"troubled teenager"-- right

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 1 — A troubled teenager who was sentenced to life in prison in 2001 for stomping a younger playmate to death pleaded guilty to armed robbery in a plea deal that spares him a life sentence for violating the terms of his probation.

Lionel Tate, now 19, appeared before Judge Joel T. Lazarus of the Broward County Circuit Court for a violation of probation hearing stemming from an arrest in May on charges that he robbed a pizza deliveryman while on probation for the murder.

Mr. Tate responded, "Yes, sir" when the judge asked him if he pleaded guilty to the armed robbery charge. He also admitted to having violated his probation terms by breaking the law and carrying a gun during the robbery.